OUR AMERICAN DREAM
The second Official Made in
Italy temporary store was born
under New York skyscrapers.
A space looking directly over
Broadway with more than fifty
firms of our country. From
fashion to food

We crossed the ocean, we left the
nearby and safe shores of the Old
Continent to embark on a fully international challenge. The same path
prepared for us by the hundreds of
thousands of Italian immigrants in the
last century which have decided to
change their lives magnetized by the
American Dream.
From Milan to London, from London
to New York. The beauty and success
of Made in Italy continues to propel us
into contexts that we could not even
predict.
The Big Apple is not only a bright
forest of skyscrapers, it’s not simply
one of the world capitals of fashion
and finance. It's a place where reality is perceived differently: everything
is bigger. The buildings, the streets,
the cars and also the shops. For this
reason we too, Official Made in Italy,
have doubled our ambitions as well
as the size of the pop-up shop and
the number of participants. The result
was beyond expectations and great
credit goes also to the level of quality
brands that have decided to bet on
our ideas.
From October 19 to February 19,

in Manhattan, made his appearance
a store of five hundred square meters hosting more than fifty top firms
of Made in Italy, all overlooking one
of the most glamorous streets of the
city: Broadway. Four months full of
events, meetings (one of them with
the world soccer champion Andrea
Pirlo) and stories to tell. In this magazine we wanted to share some of them,
because behind a simple brand hides
a life story, a brilliant intuition, a series
of courageous decisions from which
we can all take inspiration. Amedeo
Testoni, who give life to its multinational started with a small shop in the
city of Bologna, the Vena family since
1894 handed down from generation
to generation a secret recipe known
to the world as Amaro Lucano.
Stories made of text and images
that push us even more to pay honor, around the world, in that ocean
of wealth that is Made in Italy.

It was 1929 when Amedeo Testoni, after several experiences in many
workshops in Bologna, founded
a.testoni: what was formerly a small
shoe manufacturer has become now
a multinational with 5 foreign companies in the world, approximately 70
single-brand stores, 300 employees
and a strong international distribution
through multi-brand stores.
An organized production reality, where research and advanced product
design mix with technology and creativity expressing a true Italian style.
You can understand a.testoni thinking to the union between artisan
experience and innovation; to the
well-established roots in Bologna –
where the factory is based – to the

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

multinational vision. With an obsessive attention to the product that makes
the difference for those who want to
sell high-quality: consider that for an
a.testoni shoe, hemming, stitching
and finishing process can take up to
two hundred distinct operations.
Or consider the variety of skins used,
from the calf to the ostrich, from the
iguana to the crocodile: the best leathers have to be selected, interpreting
the yield and finding experts able to
work hand-complex materials.
Bruno Fantechi is the Company CEO
since 2007 but he has been working
since 2004, when he was finance
director. To explain the a.testoni philosophy he says: «Italian elegance,
excellence and modernity», three

concepts, along with the importance
of tradition and international approach, which have enabled the brand
«not to shut down itself and maintain
his wide-range».
Fantechi explains that was especially
the internationalization to characterize
now the company, which has become now a strength since the founder’s first trips abroad during the ‘50s.
Yet when he participated, in October
1955, at the Italo-American Chicago
Fair: «it allowed the company to open
up and gain a sound knowledge of
markets: it’s thanks to that opening
if today we are a small multinational».
Today in a.testoni exports count for
85% of its turnover in markets like
Western and Eastern Europe, Russia,

FASHION / 15

Middle East, United States, China,
Japan and South Korea. In Asia their
Italian taste and handmade excellence were appreciated from the start
which is in the ‘80s.
By asking him to tell us a story that
made him feel particularly proud of the
brand, Fantechi remembers when the
company was still a small workshop
and the president Enzo Fini decided
to produce only footwear branded
with the name a.testoni: «He brought
forward his idea with determination
despite the opposition of its customers, he held on and this marked the
birth of a.testoni brand».
Today to run a company, according
Fantechi, it's necessary to have a great attention and ability to analyze consumer tastes, «along with the flexibility
to quickly interpret these needs which constantly change, declining their
own identity and their own style for
more fresh and updated products».
To adapt to the demands and the
changing tastes of customers, in recent years the brand has expanded
its range: «We introduced new products, especially related to the informal men and women world: sneakers, casual shoes, backpacks and
cross-body bags. They’re categories
that are still widening in our collection,
to meet new informal trend and to
meet the needs of new generations.
All a.testoni key, marked by the Italian
elegance». This is, by the way, what
has been predominant in recent years and helped during the economic
crisis, «Made in Italy has accepted
the challenge by managing and convey both the values of traditional craftsmanship and more contemporary
and innovative spirit of brand».
For the future projects, there is a
strong push to the online shop and
the will to express further the company capabilities and potential: «finding new languages that will lead us
to communicate in a mutual exchange with the world of today».
A real combination between tradition
and innovation.

« YOU WILL FEEL LIKE
WALKING BAREFOOT »
Thierry Rabotin,
the designer who give the name to the
Made in Italy shoe brand, tells about
the firm’s first mission: to grant clients
with comfort. With the idea of a 3D
foot scanner for the future

«I like to design shoes that wrap
the foot and give the sensation of
walking barefoot». This is the never-ending motto that distinguishes
Thierry Rabotin, the designer who

gave his name to the brand produced
by Parabiago Collezioni, the company
founded together with Karl Schlecht
and Giovanna Ceolini.
The factory and offices are in Busto
Garolfo just 20 km north west from
Milan. The full production process is
located in Italy to make shoes to be
sold mostly abroad. We have talked
with Karl Schlecht of these years of
activity that led today to have 450 retailers all over the world plus three flagship stores in Rome, New York and
Paris.
How did you manage the first
steps?
The first step was in the ‘90s: Thierry
Rabotin had already done a sampling
in 1986 with Giovanna Ceolini, but in
the ‘90s we decided to produce on
our own instead of subcontracting,
so we founded Parabiago Srl in 1999.

FASHION / 21

This was a choice to make the things
better: to get a high quality product
you must have an absolute control
on every stage of production, from
design to delivery, to the costumerservice, otherwise you are forced to
depend on others and this create a
chain of problems hard to manage.
Our own factory allowed us to do the
things we wanted and that couldn’t
be done before.

And immediately you have expanded abroad ...
Yes, starting with the Americans and
then with Russia, a market that was
born because of a mistake that turned
out to be lucky. A Russian customer
had bought shoes for its New York
stores: by mistake, however, he sent
them to Moscow, so he decided to
try selling there. He succeeded.

A big portion of your market today
is represented by Russia and the
United States, which ones do you
think are the most appreciated features of your shoes abroad?
It works so well because they are
extremely comfortable. Today the
Italian market represents for us the 5
percent of the total because Italians
consumers find difficult to understand
a product which doesn’t look like the
usual shoes we are used to see. At
first it was also a problem with Russia,
but then they discovered the great
comfort of our shoes and so we started our success.
Have you ever thought to de-locate abroad?
No, we cannot find abroad what we
find in Italy and we want to keep going
like this where everything is within our
reach.
What has been rewarding over
the years?
We are always pleased when customers write to tell us how they are
happy, and of course when we learn
of important people who choose to
wear our shoes, but as principle we
don’t advertise these opportunities,
to protect their privacy. It is not polite
to mention that they wear our shoes
so that the price they have paid for is
shown off. We do care of our clients
privacy.
What are the new projects for the
future?
Our intention is to go to the bespoken: in the next weeks we want
to present a program that will allow
the customer to make a 3D scanning
of his foot and create the best shoe
model.
I think this is the market of the future,
and we are organized to do so.

The Beauty (il Bello) of the Italian
culture and tradition, the Quality (ilBuono) of local products, the Well
Made (il Ben Fatto) of silver jewelry
and enamels entirely handmade. It
can be summarize like that, with these “3”B, every single piece of several collections from Gioielli Dop. The
concept originated thanks to an idea
from the “Young Italian Jewelers Association” for the enhancement and
promotion of cultural heritage, food,
traditions and Italian refined craftsmanship. This is how pasta, pizza,
cannoli and many other regional specialties are transformed into charm
and pendants you can always bring
with you. To discover more about
the world of Gioielli Dop, which was
born in Arezzo, Tuscany, we have interviewed Giorgio Isabella, founder of
the brand together with Filippo Maria
Capitanio.
How did you come up with the
concept for Gioielli Dop?
Gioielli Dop design and manufacture was born in the district of Arezzo,
Tuscany, where the goldsmith’s art
was handed overfrom father to son
since the fourteenth century. But to
talk about Gioielli Dop we must start
from 2012 when we created the first
independent association dedicated
to the new generation of artisans and
professionals of jewelry industry, watches and accessories, the Young
Jewelers of Italy Association, an Italian excellence club which now has
over 350 members. Together with
them, in the month of October 2013,

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

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www.lillispinacouture.it

we launched an initiative for the Italian artisan excellence enhancement
"Lux Made In" the first digital district
of Made in Italy Jewellery. We therefore replicated on food, creating the
first best digital district agri-food. And
here, between Lux and food, in June
2015, we launched the first brand of
jewelry food "hand-prepared" in Italy,
namely Gioielli Dop.
So these products are exclusively
hand-made?
All our jewels are handmade, according to craft tradition, by Tuscan goldsmiths. To achieve a single bracelet
is required the work of four different
artisans and up to four days of work.
Who likes Gioielli Dop?
The brand's collections are loved
both in Italy and abroad because they
are part of an identification project

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

regarding Italians and a positive memory regarding foreigners to whom
we make a promise of a sort of luxury
souvenirs. We target to a fairly wide
audience, from young girls to a bit
more mature women.
Where the inspiration for new ideas come from?
As already mentioned before, the
Young Jewelers of Italy Association,
at Expo2015, was to enhance the 3
"B" of the Made in Italy: il Bello, il Buono e il Ben Fatto (the Beauty, the Quality and the Well Made). The Beauty of
Italian culture and tradition, the Quality of local products, the Well Made
of silver jewelry and enamels entirely
handmade.

a selected network of Italian jewelry
stores in major cities and tourist destinations.
Any advice for those who want to
start a business in the jewelry industry?
Besides the classic advice you must
have passion, you need to nurture a
strong motivation and build a strong
team to work with and think of a new
business model. Let me explain: the
jewelery sector in Italy is something
quite complicated and the most popular sales channel, the traditional
jewelry, is not prospering right now.
So you have to do something different: thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how our brand was born.
www.gioiellidop.com

Where you can buy a "piece of
Italy" signed Gioielli Dop?
Gioielli Dop is currently distributed in

«Jewels are like cuddles». Raffaella De Angeli, Piedmont artisan,
has always lived her creations as an
object to be carried out for someone,
so much that every necklace, every
bracelet, every accessory has a
name of a woman. Lucia, Giada, Daniela, Alessandra ... «It's a way to put
a face on the person who will wear
it, inside the object there is already a
piece of woman».
A passion born during the years of
art school and the graduation in Architecture that today has become a job.
An entirely artisanal process that leads to the creation of unique pieces,

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

MADE IN ITALY

“Goccia is a new product,

rich in content and technology,
held in a modern and charming
design. The interchangeable
covers simplify the match with
any outfit. Its internal light,
make-up mirror and hidden umbrella storage make it the original and essential accessory”

«I never do the same thing, for me that
I make everything by hand would be
frustrating». Jewelry suitable for the
most important occasions that can
also be used in everyday life. It starts
with the choice of materials, ranging
from crystals of the Czech Republic
to the Japanese beads, through the
Murano glass which guarantee uniqueness because every drop is different. And it comes to the relationship with the customer, «I like the idea
that there is a woman who can wear
something nice that I created. Since
when we are little girls we want to put
mother’s shoes with heels and bags,
or wear her jewels». Raffaella is trying
to be always available even after selling, for advices or changes such as
adding a lobster clasp closure or a
magnetic closure, because «the cuddle has to be until the very end». An
attention that the big brands cannot
achieve. A love for the recipient of their
work, but also a passion for the work
itself. The Piedmontese artisan feels
privileged to make a trade in which

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

«heart and hands become accomplices when you feel fully realized». The
complicity snaps when Raffaella has
been given a total freedom to express

Raffaella De Angeli.

herself, when she can convey her
creativity. In other occasions she has
to comply with customer specifications, but even in those cases, «it is

nice to give pleasure to the person
who will wear the jewel and will feel
represented on it».
The hardest part of the business is
being able to raise the awareness
and to reach new potential buyers.
This is done through the more traditional ways, such as neighborhood
markets, and also taking advantage
of new media like Facebook and Instagram. «Times have changed, it’s
not the customer who comes to you,
but you are the one who have to reach the customer». The experience in
New York, within the Official Made in
Italy pop-up store, has served primarily to open new dimensions and new
possibilities for the future. «Abroad
the craftsmanship and the fact that
you are in front of a unique handmade piece are appreciated in a much
greater way. Whereas in Italy this characteristic is given for granted in most
of the cases».
www.raffaelladeangeli.it

ART&DESIGN / 43

A&D

Tribeca Penthouse, New York City

« IL DESIGN UNISCE UOMO
E NATURA »
di Carlotta Nespoli

« DESIGN COMBINES MAN
AND NATURE »
Antonio Pio Saracino is among the most
productive Italian designers abroad, with
works in New York, Los Angeles and
Dubai. «I felt the need to redraw the
objects that I saw since my childhood»

His works and projects have
been shown in galleries and museums around the world. Among other
things, he designed a monument to
the 200th anniversary of Argentina's
independence. Antonio Pio Saracino, born in 1976, is among the most
productive designers abroad. In fact
"Il Sole 24 Ore" appointed him among
the 10 best young Italian architects to
work across the border in 2011.
When you have felt the urge to
become a designer?
I was very young. I had always great
inspiration in front of objects, many
times I felt the need to redraw them.

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

What are your main sources of inspiration?
Definitely the nature and our ability to
abstract the materials extracted from
nature to create our world with the design, architecture and art.
Each project has an inspiration:
this assumption is true for the arts
as for architecture and design. Is
there a defining line between these disciplines?
There is no clear definition line between these disciplines today. Each
era running through big changes in
knowledge and technology fields, automatically redefine professional roles
in the various disciplines. During the
Italian Renaissance and the Modernism with the Avantgardes we have
redefined the boundaries of the professionals. Artists became architects
and sculptors became engineers.
Today we live the same way these
redefinitions of cultural territories that
more fluidly allow to create new ideas
for the construction of a new reality.

The language of architecture and
design often interwoven in one direction in your work. What is the
philosophy that permeates your
design?
I believe that design is the place of
continuity between humans and nature, the integration between man and
nature.
New York has helped you to build
a career: how this has influenced
your professional path?
I moved to the "Big Apple" twelve years ago. New York is a place in the
world where the idea of living together
with different cultures becomes real.
The idea of integration and respect
is the most powerful force we have
in this city and make me proud to be
a New Yorker. I find very stimulating
to deal every day with so many different cultures and understand how
to create the design for a world that
is beginning to bring people and the
different cultures together in a universal vision, in continuity with nature. I

like to create objects that don’t have a
clear sense of cultural belonging, but
that could be defined as belonging
to many cultures. It is exactly for this
reason that my designs are inspired
by the natural world from where we all
come from in the same way.
Your work always looks to present and today’s technology, but
you have studied in Italy. What did
you learn here?
I moved to Rome when I was very
young. Rome is a city with a really
powerful energy: I realize very clearly how important is the role of design
and architecture in the creation of a
civilization throughout history. It is in
Rome that I studied how important is
the design in the process of identification and development of a culture
and I have seen the happiness and
pride of the inhabitants of a city of architecture and design.
According to your thinking, Made
in Italy is still worth?
The Italian design has a great tradition that perfectly combines large manufacturing capacity with the design
research. In the US, Made in Italy is
definitely an added value.
What was the most difficult
objects to be designed?
With no doubt "Hero" and "Superhero" for Three Bryant Park in New York.
We had two teams of engineers who
worked on the project. It was a very
difficult process because there’s
nothing of traditional in the structure
of the two statues. The weight, in fact,
is distributed non-linearly through the
pedestals of the various plans.
Future projects?
I'm working on new projects of architecture and public art in France,
Dubai and New York.

BAULI, TRADITION
BEYOND THE EDGE
Francesco Bauli, gradson of the founder,
tells about how the company has been
able to export authenticity and pleasure
around the world since the first baked
pandoro one hundred years ago

The ultimate in authentic
dining experiences, innovative
Mediterranean cuisine created by
ANTONINO CANNAVACCIUOLO,
the face of today’s Italian gourmet
cuisine who invites you to live the
dream in Villa Crespi, one of Italy’s
most exclusive destination hotels.

A destra in piedi, Ruggero Bauli.
Standing on the right, Ruggero Bauli.

Purity, quality and Italian authenticity, these are the key words that have
transformed the well-known brand
Bauli from a small pastry shop to a
large company known throughout the
world, capable with its products to
heat the boards of many Italian families and more for nearly one hundred
years. The History of Bauli began
many years ago in the late '20s, when
Ruggero Bauli after being the victim
of a shipwreck occurred on the South
American coast, where he had gone
to search for luck, decides to return to
Verona and open with the life savings
his own bakery.
«From small shop behind Piazza Bra
born in the city of Verona, Bauli beca-

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

me a real factory during the economic boom of the '50s, gaining fame
and popularity thanks to successful
advertising and product quality», says
Francesco Bauli, grandson of the
founder and expert in food technology. He grew up within the walls of the
company and now has expatriated in
New York.
In the 2000s the company also acquired other factories of this industry
and started to invest abroad, expanding especially in the United States,
Canada and South America. In fact
Made in Italy products occupy a very
important part of the market overseas
and it is still growing. The Italian brand
is seen as synonymous of authenticity
and goodness abroad and it is chosen for the quality of its ingredients
with regard to its heritage.
The connection with tradition is
exactly what Bauli keep on looking
for: «The product we make is an integral part of our heritage and it meets a
particular success abroad where they
recognize and appreciate our history,
traditions and product together», said
Francesco.
So even though it's been almost one
hundred years since the first Pandoro came out from the little Verona
workshop, the recipe is always the
same, faithful to the past. Although
the production volumes have grown
exponentially with the passing of years, Bauli follows faithfully all stages

with the same passion and authenticity when Ruggero Bauli churned his
desserts in his pastries. Pandoro and
panettone have the same production
process from the start till nowadays.
In fact, Bauli is now one of the few
companies that still uses the technique of sourdough without the addition
of preservatives, thus preserving the
quality and intensifying the product
taste.
Abroad, the challenge is not only to
keep the Italian authenticity, but also
to integrate it with the tastes and traditions of the foreign country, «Abroad,
we want to show the qualities of Bauli
as authentic Italian product, Made in
Italy, no preservatives and sourdough
- says Francesco working for years
in Bauli USA - But we are also much
committed to customize the product
according to the market where it’s
sold, both in terms of packaging, which has to reflect each country characteristics and with regard to the taste and flavors».
This is exactly the case of the "Pumpkin Spice Mini Panettone", a spiced cake created by Bauli for the US
market to combine the traditional taste of the cake with pumpkin, autumn
queen of American tables. Thus Bauli, being a synonymous of quality and
authenticity, represents also for all
Italian immigrants the emotional connection with the traditions, origins and
Christmas holidays spent with family.

FOOD&TRAVEL / 61

F&T

LUCANO, PER CHI VUOLE
DI PIÙ DALLA VITA
di Benedetta Maffioli
LUCANO, FOR WHO WANTS
MORE FROM LIFE

It will be because those 30 herbs
and their aroma lead with the imagination to Matera hills, or maybe it’s the
secret ingredient that from 1894 Vena
family jealously guards and hands
down from father to son, or maybe
it is due to a meticulous preparation
remained unchanged for more than
100 years. In any case, whatever the
answer, there is no doubt that the
Amaro Lucano has become over the
FOOD&TRAVEL / 63

years a symbol of quality and authenticity that has earned with its story the
hearts of Italian and now is gaining
recognition even in international markets. Rosistella Vena, director general
of the Lucan Group, has no doubts
about what are the reasons that
made famous Lucano brand around
the world: «The Amaro Lucano is synonymous of quality, family, purity and
warmth and now is fourth generation
that belongs to Vena family, who take
care of it every day respecting tradition in every single step».

What let Amaro Lucano, from the
walls of the city of Pisticci, become an internationally renowned
product?
Advertising, no doubt. Which is our
strong point. It’s thanks to the famous
slogan, What could you get more
from life?, invented by Emilio Haimman in 1991, the brand Lucano has
entered the common talk. There is no
person, in fact, that as a first response to the question «What could you
get more from life?» doesn’t reply «A
Lucano».

In a bottle of Amaro Lucano are
enclosed over a hundred years of
history. How did this successful
adventure begin?
The company was founded in 1894
by the genius of founder Pasquale Vena, who, in the back room of a
small cookie shop, in experimenting
with different blends of herbs gathered in the hills of Pisticci, has managed to find the perfect combination
and create a bitter with a unique taste.
The liquor, by word of mouth, went
straight into the homes of all the inhabitants of the city. And initially, thanks
to its properties and its genuineness,
was seen as a medicinal product to
be used primarily as an elixir to help
patients in states of convalescence.

How much of Italy there is in a
bottle of Amaro Lucano?
The Italian character stands out immediately: the historical image of the
label is a peasant called in the popular language "pacchiana" (tacky), from
the name of the typical costume of
woman in Basilicata. And the Italian
spirit is felt immediately by the warmth
of the look that gives off this woman,
a look that, like the woman in the early
1900s, is attentive and face care to
every domestic aspect. And so today
as in the past, this very careful look
reflects the values of our family business, care and attention to each step
of the production.

64 / OMI 4 - Febbraio/February 2017

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

Amaro Lucano is an Italian symbol abroad. What are the national
values that the bottle carries with
it overseas?
Surely the values of home and family
and certainly the heart left in Italy for
the first Italian migrants who moved
to the United States, Canada and
Argentina. These migrants, in fact,
brought our bottle in their suitcase,
thinking of bringing with them a small
piece of the family they left. And this
has helped a lot to raise awareness of
our brand abroad.
It's more than 100 years that the
Lucano brand gives a guarantee
of quality, taste and reliability.
How were you able to ferry the

tradition in modernity?
Tradition and innovation have to necessarily travel together. We take great care of the traditions: processing
of herbs, the addition of the secret
ingredient at the end of the process,
the aloe crushing still manually made
in a mortar. On the other hand, however, the certifications we must fulfill
encourage us to innovation: if once
Pasquale Vena could recognize the
purity of alcohol just rubbing a few
drops in your hands and feeling the
scent, analyzes and controls are necessary in laboratory nowadays.

not only new international markets, but
also new acquisitions. We are proceeding towards these two roads: on
the one hand we are growing increasingly on overseas market bringing
with us the values that distinguish us
as Italian family, purity and genuineness; on the other purchasing other
brands larger or smaller. An example
of this way it is the last acquisition we
made from Campari Group: the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Limoncetta of Sorrentoâ&#x20AC;? which as an
IGP product, made only with lemon
peel, water, alcohol and sugar and we
are proud of that.

Where is oriented the company
today?
The company now aims to conquer

La famiglia Vena / Vena family.

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

FOOD&TRAVEL / 65

www.barababac.com

F&T

POLLICA E L'ELISIR DI LUNGA VITA
di Niccolò De Carolis

Nel piccolo comune del Cilento sono arrivati ricercatori fin dagli Stati Uniti per studiare i centenari del posto e i loro segreti
POLLICA AND THE ELIXIR
OF LIFE
Some American researchers came to
the small town of Cilento to study the
centenarians and their secrets

There is a small village in southern
Campania, away from the noise of
Naples and the jet set of the Amalfi Coast, which is becoming famous
throughout the world for its quality of
life. Pollica, in the heart of Cilento, has
a little more than two thousand inhabitants, a city that from the slopes of
Mount Stella comes down to the blue
sea, with the villages of Acciaroli and
Pioppi. The mayor Stefano Pisani had
the merit of highlighting the wealth of
the land where he was born and raised, and above all the extraordinary
longevity of its inhabitants.
San Diego University, together
with the University of Rome, has
started a research on centenarians who live in your country.
How was the project born?
It all started when some teachers
and doctors came here on vacation
and met our seniors. What impressed
them was not only the quantitative
aspects, but their positive aging. On a
sample of 300 people just one suffe-

ring from Alzheimer's or degenerative
diseases. So far the study has yielded
interesting results. It was detected in
the sample a particular protein that
increases the microcirculation and
protects from degenerative diseases.
This is why there is now the intention
to launch a stable research center for
five years.
What are the reasons for this "miraculous" longevity?
Lifestyle, physical habits, lack of
stress and sustainable pace. But above all the eating habits, the famous
Mediterranean diet was born here
when the biologist Ancel Keys came
to live in Pioppi. I think it's not only the
food, but also convivial consumption
and all the culture connected that makes the difference.
What are the cornerstones of the
Mediterranean diet?
First, the extra virgin olive oil improves
the quality of life and this has been
certified. Our “Nuovo Cilento Coo-

FOOD&TRAVEL / 69

perative” is the first producer of oil in
Campania region. Then we have very
oily fish, particularly the Menagia anchovies, fished with an ancient tool
that respects the sustainability of the
environment and maintains the excellent quality. Also famous is the white
fig of Cilento, and all the vegetables
like tomatoes.
Is this a risk for Pollica to become, as we can say, a country for
old men?
Our municipality has a number of

70 / OMI 4 - Febbraio/February 2017

elderly people very pronounced,
but also an age group ranging from
18 to 40 years just as pronounced,
approximately 40%. We must consider that the attention created by our
centenarians brings to employment
opportunities for young people. Furthermore we push a lot on the tourism segment too, we have five sails
environment alloy, which only nine
locations throughout Italy can boast.
The blue FEE flag is ours for over thirty
years.

You were also present at Expo
2015, what did you get from that
experience?
We proposed the Mediterranean diet
not only as a food model, but as a socio-economic model. It ensures very
low ecological footprint, increases sustainability, reduces health spending
and creates job.
Your work is inspired by the
words of Hemingway, «The world
is a fine place and worth fighting
for», what does it mean for you?
The place where I was born and
grown up gives me unique emotions,
difficult to explain. I've never used
drugs, but to me it seems like a drug.
When I go away I lose a piece of my
ability and my energy, when I return
I feel reborn. We are often accustomed to the beauty of things, but we
don't use it properly. In my opinion
you should never be satisfied with
what you did before, we have to work
with small gestures and big plans to
change things. In the early 50s Hemingway lodged in Acciaroli for a while, from that stay came out the book
"The Old Man and the Sea".

THE GREEN WHERE
CHAMPIONS ARE BORN
Manassero e Bertasio, the two
golfers who represented Italy
at the Rio Olympics, grew up
at the Garda Golf Country Club.
Their former trainer Franco
Maestroni remembers their
early path

Franco Maestroni has made the
dream of any coach come true: to
see two athletes raised by him to reach the highest achievement for any
athlete, the Olympics. The two champions in question are Matteo ManasSPORT&WELLNESS / 75

sero and Nino Bertasio, five years of
difference, and a lot in common: a
passion and talent for golf, so many
years of difficult stages, countless
awards, one Olympics in Rio, and
many years of training with the same
teacher. Franco Maestroni has dedicated his life to golf: since 1986 he
trains at the Gardagolf Country Club,
a field in Bergamo born from the entrepreneurial ability and foresight of
Riccardo Pisa and Giorgio Simonini
in 1984, a few kilometers from Lake
Garda, in a breathtaking environment.
The 27-hole championship course
and the driving range over the years
have hosted major national and international tournaments by placing the
Gardagolf Country Club at the top of
the golfing facilities in Europe.

76 / OMI 4 - Febbraio/February 2017

Both the Italian golfers, who represented Italy at the Rio Olympics last
summer, have grown right here. A
unique experience for the teacher
who trained them: «Seeing them at
the center of the world was a very
strong emotion - tells Maestroni - I've
known them since they were kids,
I've seen them growing and now I
feel a satisfaction hard to describe».
During the Olympics, the whole Gardagolf Club has been following with
passion Manassero and Bertasio
with fixed appointments even in unthinkable hours, to cheer all together:
the results have not arrived, but the
satisfaction was still great. Years later
Maestroni fondly remembers the two
boys and the path that has transformed them from young fans to great

champions, «Matteo has always been
an extremely talented guy, very worn,
Nino was less instinctive but a hard
worker with a great physique. Both
have always had great devotion for
golf. I remember Bertasio at 8-9 years
throwing so many balls on the greens
not even leaving me a blade of grass.
Instead I had to scold Matteo because even in a storm, in spite of thunder,
lightning and buckets of water he didn’t stop to train». In short, two kids
who not only loved to play golf, but
showed right away to have a little something extra.
A talent that has accompanied them
match after match, and that led them
higher and higher: Matteo holds the
record for youngest winner on the
European Tour and in 2013 became

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

the youngest winner of the BMW PGA
Championship, coming this summer
to participate the Rio Olympics with
his friend. It is in Rio that golf has returned to the Olympics after 112 years since the last appearance in 1904
in Saint Louis, United States.
And while Italy is well undertaking
preparations to welcome an important event like the Ryder Cup in 2022,
the results on the field of Italian course continue to starve: «The Italian golf
has great potential, but Italy remains
a country linked especially to soccer
and historically to cycling. Golf has
never succeeded and is still failing
today to take hold as in other countries; we cannot compare with the
Anglo-Saxons who have a completely
different approach towards this sport.

OFFICIAL MADE IN ITALY

Many of those who work in this environment would prove that it’s a sport
for everyone, but this is not what happens. To play golf it still takes a lot of
money». When he thinks to his students, Maestroni smiles and in a moment goes back in the past when he
could give advice to his boys: «They
grew up, they are professionals, but if
I had them standing in front on me today before an important race I would
remember them always the same
things, to have a lot of patience, to
be as relaxed as possible: they know
how to play golf, they just have to try
to dominate themselves. Whatever it
will be I will always be very proud of
them».

ITALIAN HEROES
The Italian integration into the American society
succeeded thanks to the sport mostly. The
charisma of champions like Joe DiMaggio or
Primo Carnera was even stronger than racial
prejudice

Sport is a cornerstone of American
society built also thanks to the Italians.
This is true because in the past Italian immigrants have favored the birth
and growth of many sports in the US.
The sports stars are often real heroes
especially in the US and some of those heroes who have made the history
are immigrants. To make a ranking
would be not only ungenerous but
impossible, since who is part of this
list is truly a superstar. We are going
to talk about them just to let you know
who they are or simply not to let forget
them. To choose with whom to start is
not easy, but you have to give proper
recognition to Joe DiMaggio, considered the greatest baseball player of
his era (1936-1951) and also proud
Italian. Joe was able to overcome racial stereotypes, winning the recognition of the American society. Indeed
Italians before his success were still
considered a separate racial group,
inferior to the white race. But thanks
to the conquest of 9 World Series
with his New York Yankees, the 13
MLB all-star game appearances and
the entrance in the Hall of Fame, DiMaggio defeated racism and gained
the respect of the American people

84 / OMI 4 - Febbraio/February 2017

for all Italians. Another sports hero is
Rocky Marciano, world heavyweight
champion who retired undefeated
(49 matches won and no one lost).
Although he was not a particularly
massive boxer (for today's standards
he should have entered the light heavyweight category), he overcame
many setbacks and used his limited
capabilities along with exceptional
toughness and stubbornness to reach the pinnacle of his career thanks to
the hard work and discipline. Just to
remain in boxing, another great figure
and symbol of Italian sport in the US
is Primo Carnera, famous for his size
(up more than two meters to 120 kilograms) managed to excel in a field
where the Americans were usually
the undisputed masters, giving breath
and force to the Italian boxing tradition
and demonstrating to America and to
the world what Italians can do during
difficult times for our nation. The stages of his laborious career start with
the drama of Ernie Schaaf, who died
after the match on February 10, 1933;
then the challenge with Uzcudum in
Rome (1933) during the highest point
of fascism triumph, ending with the
pick of his life, the win for Knock Out

in 6 rounds against Jack Sharkey in
New York. It was June 29, 1933 and
Carnera became heavyweight world champion. Lighthouse during the
second half of the twentieth century
was Dan Marino, who did in football
what Joe DiMaggio did in baseball,
transforming an Italian American in
the strongest player of that sport.
Although with his Miami Dolphins he
was never able to win the NFL title,
he wrote such a chapter of history
of this sport that, despite the lack of
titles, he was elected MVP of the league and then inducted into the Hall
of Fame NFL bringing a new life to the
low pride of Italians in America. Those
who are giving now lymph and honor
to Italian style in the States is Anthony
Rizzo, a young Italian-American, a
true baseball phenomenon, who lead
Chicago Cubs to win the title and to
an unprecedented renaissance for a
team that hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t won the championship since 1908. He is not only the
star of his team and the whole league,
but he is a true symbol especially because of his particular story that has
seen him overcome cancer when he
was only twenty.

Francesco Zorzi, creative director at
Alias2k, is an italian illustrator and visual
designer in love with flat colors and simple
shapes.
Featured in the latest two editions of Luerzer's Archive's "200 Best Illustrators Worldwide", in international illustration Annual
including "3X3 Illustration Directory" and
"2015 American Graphic Design Awards"
by GD Usa, draws for advertising campaigns, magazines, newspapers and books.
Among his most recent collaborations:
The New York Observer, The Boston Globe, Advertising Age, Creative Quarterly.